I have written before about twin brothers with outstanding military service careers, including Navy SEALs PO1 Marcus Luttrell and LT Morgan Luttrell. However, I have never researched the backgrounds of two brothers whose lifetime military careers were both valorous and virtual mirror images.
What follows is the story of twin brothers, Charles Curtis “Buck” Pattillo and Cuthbert Augustus “Bill” Pattillo.
They both graduated from Atlanta Technical High School in 1942. That was the beginning of twin careers, which often intersected. After 20 years flying Air Force fighters in two combat theaters, that intersection included both receiving bachelor of science degrees in mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1962 and master’s degrees in international affairs from George Washington University in 1965, both having also received training at the Army War College while at GWU.
After graduating high school during World War II, Buck and Bill enlisted in the Army Air Force as aviation cadets.
Following his flight training, Buck commissioned as a 2d Lt in March 1944 and began training in P-40s. In November 1944, he deployed to Europe, where he flew combat missions with the 352nd Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force. While with the 352nd Group, he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters representing his tours.
Bill also completed his aviation training and commissioned as a 2d Lt. He flew P-51 Mustangs with the 352nd Fighter Group, and prior to being shot down and taken prisoner by the Germans, he completed 135 combat missions.
After World War II, Buck continued his education at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and remained in the Air Force Reserve, flying P-47s with the 128th Fighter Squadron, 54th Fighter Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard. He was recalled to active duty in 1948 as a P-51 pilot with the 31st Fighter Group at Turner Air Force Base and then assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, Furstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany.
Once back in Germany, this time on more cordial terms than in 1944, Buck flew left wing and alternate lead in the F-80 and F-84 with the Air Force’s European aerial demonstration team, the Skyblazers. In 1952, he returned stateside to the Air Training Command’s 3600th Combat Crew Training Group at Luke Air Force Base. It was there that he helped form and flew with the new Air Force demonstration team, the Thunderbirds. He then returned to Europe serving in various commands, flying F-84Fs and F-100Ds.
Meanwhile, after the war, Bill also attended Georgia Tech, and while a student he was commander of an F-47 flight, also with the 54th Fighter Wing of the Georgia National Guard. He deployed to Europe with Buck and also flew F-80s and F-84s with the Skyblazers. In 1952, he returned stateside as a fighter gunnery instructor with the 3542nd Flying Training Squadron at Pinecastle Air Force Base and then rejoined his brother at Luke Air Force Base, where he also flew with the Thunderbirds.
Bill flew right wing and Buck flew left wing with the original Thunderbirds team in 1953.
Bill then flew with the 613th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, and TDY as Ninth Air Force liaison officer with Tactical Air Command rotational units at Aviano Air Base, Italy. In 1957, he became commander of the 615th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.
In 1959, as noted previously, the brothers entered UC Boulder, graduating in 1962. They then transferred to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, serving with the 4450th Standardization and Evaluation Group, Headquarters Tactical Air Command. After both graduated from Georgetown U in 1965, it was back to Germany, with Buck taking command of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing at Bitburg Air Base and Bill becoming director of safety for the U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Lindsey Air Station.
In 1968, the brothers deployed to Southeast Asia, Buck as vice commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in Thailand and Bill becoming commander of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base. Buck flew 120 combat missions in Vietnam as an F-4 Phantom pilot. Bill flew 230 combat missions in the F-100.
In 1969, Buck returned stateside to Tinker Air Force Base and, in 1971, became deputy director for logistics, J-4, for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington. He then became commander of the Lowry Technical Training Center at Lowry Air Force Base in 1973 and then vice commander in chief, Pacific Air Forces in 1975. In 1980, he retired after serving as vice director of the Joint Deployment Agency and deputy commander in chief, U.S. Readiness Command.
In 1969, Bill became deputy chief of staff at Headquarters, Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base, and a year later went to Headquarters U.S. Air Force as deputy director of operations in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff. In 1974, he became deputy chief of staff for Allied Forces Central Europe, returning to MacDill Air Force Base in 1977.
Both brothers retired as decorated command pilots, each having accumulated more than 5,000 flying hours. Buck attained the rank of Lt Gen and Bill the rank of Maj Gen. Both were inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000. Bill died in 2014 at age 89 and Buck in 2019 at age 94.
In 2022, Buck and his wife Bobbie and Bill and his wife Joyce were double interred in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. In their honor, the Thunderbirds flew a unique formation they named the “Pattillo Pull.” Typically, one F-16 pulls up and away from a four-ship missing-man formation, but in this case, two F-16s pulled up from a six-ship formation.
In addition to their own Air Force legacy, Buck’s son Scott is a retired Air Force pilot, and two of the twins’ granddaughters are currently serving as Air Force pilots.
Lt Gen Buck and Maj Gen Bill Pattillo: Your example of valor — humble American Patriots defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty and in disregard for the peril to your own life — is eternal.
“Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Live your life worthy of his sacrifice.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of American Liberty, and for Veterans, First Responders, and their families.
